Opera on the Move in the Nordic Countries during the Long 19th ...

168 Ulla-Britta Broman-Kananen
13 May 1874). Helsinki with its Swedish-speaking bourgeoisie audience
was a challenge for the Finnish national movement. The 1870s also marked
a breakthrough for the Fennoman movement in the capital, a place where
the movement could channel some of its cultural ambitions through the
opera enterprise. For the Fennomans it was tempting to meet the Swedish
elite on their own ground in Helsinki and perform opera in Finnish, which
was a sign of the Finnish-speaking population’s feeling of belonging to European
civilization. It was also very convenient that the Diet was about to
meet in the spring of 1877, which meant an opportunity to realise the plans
to merge the Finnish <strong>Opera</strong> Company with the Swedish Theatre Company.
Already in 1876 when the Finnish opera was reaching a high point, there
were clear signs of a looming crisis. The political dimensions behind the
opera became more and more obvious and put a great deal of pressure on
Bergbom. He also had to live up to the demands sparked by the competition
with the New Theatre. Like Josephson in Christiania, Bergbom began
to take measures among his staff because the opera company appeared to
be too small and too vulnerable in the changed situation. Bergbom’s intentions
were to strengthen the company and secure its abilities, including
in the event of illness among the singers. A second aim was to raise the
standard of the performances. The tenor Ludvig Eriksson was the first to
be replaced because he was often hoarse and indisposed and performances
were cancelled because of him. He was replaced by another non-Finnish
tenor, Josef Navratil (1840–d. ?) from Austrian Bohemia. In the meantime
Emmy Strömer and Niklas Achté had married and were expecting their first
child in April of 1876 23 ; Emmy Achté’s marital status made her unreliable
in Bergbom’s eyes. She was partly replaced by Ida Basilier, who now came
to Helsinki regularly during the second half of the decade (or at least until
she married in Christiania in 1878 and her career slowed down). 24 Nikolai
Achté was replaced as orchestra conductor by Bohuslav Hřímalý. The Finnish
Theatre followed the example of the New Theatre and established an orchestra
of its own, giving Helsinki two theatre orchestras, which competed
for the few professional musicians in town.
Not all of these changes were well received, especially not by the Achtés,
who started a huge quarrel with the Bergbom siblings and resigned in anger.
Thereafter, they performed only occasionally as guests at the opera.
23 Their child was Aino Ackté (1876–1944), who had an international career as an opera
singer and was the founder of the Finnish National <strong>Opera</strong> in 1911.
24 Naëmi Ingman (1855–1932), Lydia Lagus (1853–1928) and Alma Fohström (1856–
1936), all Finnish singers at the beginning of their career, were other occasional guests
at the opera.